"Now Listen to Me... "
Just some thoughts on current happenings:
Classic film screenings from around the world this April include:
“THE LUBITSCH TOUCH”
In New York City, New York, Film Forum is presenting
“THE LUBITSCH TOUCH” from
Tuesday, April 7 - Tuesday, June 30
The programme reads:
13 sound masterworks, including NINOTCHKA, DESIGN FOR LIVING, TROUBLE IN PARADISE, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, THE LOVE PARADE, CLUNY BROWN, THE SMILING LIEUTENANT, THE MERRY WIDOW, ONE HOUR WITH YOU, TO BE OR NOT TO BE, and more!
“How would Lubitsch have done it?” asked a sign above Billy Wilder’s door. Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947) was the first of the great European directors to establish himself in Hollywood and by far the most influential. Having made hit ribald comedies and triumphant spectacles in his native Germany, Lubitsch revolutionized American movies with a sui generis subtlety, style, visual wit, and sophisticated innuendo—“The Lubitsch Touch” (as definitive a trademark as Master of Suspense would be for Hitchcock) —inventing the modern movie musical and romantic comedy in the process.
In the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s, he was, with Cecil B. DeMille, the most famous director in Hollywood (in Preston Sturges’ SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, Veronica Lake is desperate for a screen test with Lubitsch) and, such was his prestige, the only one to retain full artistic control throughout his career. Years after Lubitsch’s death, Wilder (an up-close observer as a two time scenarist for The Master) remarked, “For years we all tried to find the secret of The Lubitsch Touch. If we were lucky, we’d sometimes make a film like Lubitsch. Like Lubitsch, not real Lubitsch.”
Presented with generous support from the Robert Jolin Osborne Fund for American Classic Cinema of the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s
Click on the retrospective image for more information and on the Film Forum banner for other motion pictures playing this month.
In London, United Kingdom The Prince Charles Cinema will present The Bad Sleep Well (1960, a 35mm print) Wednesday, April 8, Sweet Smell of Success (1957, a 35mm print) Friday, April 10, Heat (1995, a 35mm print) Saturday, April 11, The Swimmer (1968) Wednesday, April 15, Ikiru (1952, a 35mm print) Friday, April 17, The Long Goodbye (1973, a 35mm print) Wednesday, April 22, and Harakiri (1962) on Monday, April 27.
* Note: Some of the showtimes are matinees only.
Click on the film’s respective image for more information. To see April’s complete programming, click on The Prince Charles Cinema banner above.
Pickpocket
In Bergen, Norway The Cinemateket i Bergen will present Pickpocket (1961) on Wednesday, April 8 and Friday, April 10.
For more information on this film’s showing, click on the movie image above. For further information on the other films presented at The Cinemateket, click on the banner image above.
In Sydney, Australia The Ritz Theatre will present Heat (1995, a 35mm print) on Friday, April 10.
Click on the film image for more information on this screening. For other films playing at The Ritz Theatre, click on the banner above.
In Hollywood (part of greater Los Angeles) California, The Vista Theater will present Pinocchio (1940, an I.B. Tech 35mm print) on Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12, both dates at 10 am only.
To discover more about the screening of Pinocchio or the other films playing this month at the Vista Theater, click on either of the above images.
In Los Angeles, California The Beverly Cinema will present Animal Crackers (1930, a 35mm print) on Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12 both dates at 2 pm only.
Click on the poster image for more information on this presentation. To see the rest of April’s schedule, click on The Beverly Cinema banner above.
The Long Goodbye
Sweet Smell of Success
Odds Against Tomorrow
In Hollywood (part of greater Los Angeles) California, The American Cinematheque Egyptian Theatre will present The Long Goodbye (1973, as part of ‘NOIR CITY: Hollywood 2026’, with a Live musical performance by pianist Chris Dawson, a Q&A with actor Elliott Gould, Moderated by Eddie Muller) Saturday, April 11, Sweet Smell of Success (1957, as part of ‘NOIR CITY: Hollywood 2026’, with a Live musical performance by pianist Chris Dawson, an Introduction by Alan K. Rode) Saturday, April 11, and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959, as part of ‘NOIR CITY: Hollywood 2026’, with a Live musical performance by pianist Chris Dawson, an Introduction by Alan K. Rode and Shari Belafonte) on Sunday, April 12.
* Note: Some of the showtimes are matinees only.
For more information on these programmes, click on the appropriate film image above. To see the entire month of April’s programming including other films showing at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Aero Theatre in Santa Monica (also part of greater Los Angeles), and The Los Feliz 3 Theatre in Los Feliz (also part of greater Los Angeles), click on the American Cinematheque banner.
In Detroit, Michigan The Redford Theatre will present Pandora’s Box (1929, with live organ accompaniment by Donnie Rankin) on Saturday, April 18.
Click on the top image for more information. To see the entire month’s programming, click on The Redford Theatre banner above.
In theatres across the U.S. Flashback Cinema is presenting Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986, celebrating the film’s 40th Anniversary) on Sunday, April 19 and Wednesday, April 22.
Click on the poster image for more information on this screening. To see the entire month’s programming, click on The Flashback Cinema banner above.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
In Culpeper Virginia, The Library of Congress at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Packard Campus Theater is presenting Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966, a 35mm print) on Thursday, April 23.
Click on the poster image for more information on this film’s screening. To see the rest of April’s schedule, click on the Packard Campus image above.
In Auckland, New Zealand, Academy Cinemas is presenting Lawrence of Arabia (1962) on Sunday, April 26 at 12 pm only.
To obtain more information on any of this programme, click on the poster image. To see April’s complete schedule, click on the Academy banner above.
Sunrise
In Lyon, France the Institut Lumiere is presenting Sunrise (1927, with Piano accompaniment by Didier Martel, as part of its FILM CONCERTS AND SILENT FILMS series) on Sunday, April 26 at 2:30 pm only.
Click on the film image above for more information on this screening. Click on the Institut logo for all of the films showing this month.
In theatres across the U.S., Fathom Entertainment is presenting The Silence of the Lambs (1991, a 35th Anniversary presentation) on Sunday, April 26 and Wednesday, April 29.
Click on the respective image for more information on this screening. To see the next few month’s schedule, click on The Fathom Events banner above.
Ace in the Hole
In Valencia, Spain, Culturarts Generalitat IVAC – La Filmoteca at the Edificio Rialto will present Ace in the Hole (1951, as part of their BILLY WILDER series) on Tuesday, April 28 and Thursday, April 30.
Click on the film’s image for more information on this screening. To discover more of April’s programming including other films playing in Valencia, Spain at the Edificio Rialto, Castelló, Spain at the Raval Theatre and the Paranimf of the Universitat Jaume I, and in Alicante Spain at the Arniches Theatre, click on the banner image above.
In Como (part of greater Perth) Western Australia, The Revival House will present Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992, a 35mm print) on Wednesday, April 29.
Click on the poster image for more information on this screening. To see the other films showing this month, click on the theatre banner above.
In Hollywood (part of greater Los Angeles), California TCM is having its annual Classic Film Festival Thursday, April 30 to Sunday, May 3.
For the complete schedule, sans any last minute additions, click on the image above.
These are the reviewed films showing on Turner Classic Movies in the U.S. for the remainder of this month:
My first TCM film to see is the late Mike Hodges’ 1971 Neo-noir triumph Get Carter which is reviewed as a Blu-ray recommendation here. Viewers can get Carter Saturday, April 11 at 5 pm PDT.
Michael Caine
In 1966, one of the more challenging films to face off against the Production Code (mentioned in Exploring the Artefacts #3: Code Breakers) was that year’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, previously reviewed here. This film remarkably delivers all of the guttural force of its theatrical origin while creating a more intimate, and cinema appropriate, dynamic all its own. Let the “games” begin Sunday, April 12 at 12:30 pm PDT.
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton
TCM's current monthly schedule can be confirmed by clicking on any of the above TCM related images. To confirm the correct Pacific Daylight (West Coast) showtime information, subtract 3 hours from the Eastern Daylight (East Coast) showtime listed on TCM’s schedule.
(To be continued… ) A.G.